Clinton Orders Halt To Forest Roadwork

Anti-development Plan Hailed, Hated

October 14, 1999|By Michael Kilian, Washington Bureau.

WASHINGTON — In a landmark action hailed by conservationists and denounced by lawmakers from Western states, President Clinton on Wednesday moved to halt all road-building and commercial development in 40 million acres of national forest land.

The initiative would protect about 20 percent of the 192 million acres of wilderness owned by the U.S. Forest Service, including thousands of acres in national forests in the Midwest.

Most of the acreage is in the West, but the measures also would apply to roadless areas in forests such as Southern Illinois' Shawnee National Forest. Other areas in the Midwest include Hoosier National Forest in southern Indiana, Huron-Manistee National Forest in the lower peninsula of Michigan, Hiawatha and Ottawa National Forests in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and Chequamegon and Nicolet National Forests in northern Wisconsin.

Monica Ross, spokeswoman for the Shawnee, said the forest's 287,000 acres contain many roadless areas that could come under protection, "though we haven't been informed of any details or guidelines yet."

The Shawnee's nature-preservation areas, occupying about 5 percent of its total acreage and including a large portion of the once-endangered Lusk Creek Canyon, were closed to all uses but foot travel last month, she said.

About half of the Forest Service's 192 million acres of public land have already been cut by roads and opened to commercial exploitation.

Clinton also proposed spending an additional $1 billion on land acquisition and preservation and vowed to veto any appropriation bill that carried what he called "an anti-environment rider."

"In weighing the future of these lands, we are presented with a unique, historic opportunity," Clinton said. "From the Appalachian Mountains to the Sierra Nevada, these are some of the last, best unprotected wildlands in America."

His initiative was denounced as "irresponsible" by several members of Congress representing Western and Appalachian Mountain states, including Rep. Helen Chenoweth (R-Idaho), chairwoman of the forests subcommittee of the House Resources Committee.

They argued that limiting access to these acres would hamper efforts to control forest fires, insect damage and tree disease.

Lumber, mining and other commercial interests have long opposed attempts to block road building in the national forests.

Clinton's action was in the form of a directive to Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, whose department oversees the Forest Service, and requires no congressional approval, though legislation could be introduced in an attempt to block it.

A spokesman for Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) said he would study the matter before responding.

Under Clinton's directive, the Agriculture Department must create a long-term plan for the protection of the acreage. Though no precise sites or boundaries have yet been specified, the initiative would apply generally to some 40 million acres of forest land now without roads or with limited road access but still open to logging and other commercial uses.

The Forest Service would aim to issue the plan in the spring and, after extensive public comment, adopt the program late next year.

The plan would be targeted mostly at isolated sections of 5,000 acres or more, but would include smaller sites as well.

Last February, Glickman ordered an 18-month moratorium on road-building through forest land to allow for studies of such issues as the ecological viability of forest tracts and the economic impact of a road halt on various industries and communities.

In issuing his directive just eight months later, Clinton said there has been enough study of the wilderness areas to "assess their ecological, economic and social values and to evaluate long-term options for their management."

"They are a treasured inheritance, enduring remnants of an untrammeled wilderness that once stretched from ocean to ocean," he said. "Accordingly, I have determined that it is in the best interest of our nation and of future generations to provide strong and lasting protection for these forests."

Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope applauded Clinton's action.

"Over half of our National Forests have already been hammered by logging, road building, mining and oil and gas development," Pope said. "Now we have a real chance to stop this destruction and protect these precious and rapidly disappearing forests."

The National Environmental Trust predicted that the road-building halt could eventually apply to all 60 million roadless acres of national forest.

"President Clinton is making a historic move here today," said Trust Executive Vice President Thomas Walthen. "With today's cities and populations growing and ever-expanding, it is important that we save these open and wild places for future generations to enjoy as we have."

"While we agree that many roadless areas are unique and need protection, many others have serious forest health problems," she said. "According to the Forest Service, 39 million acres of national forest land are at high risk of catastrophic fires, and much of this is within roadless areas."

The chairman of the House Agriculture subcommittee on forestry, Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), contended that Clinton was circumventing land-management experts and the democratic process in his unilateral action.

"With the stroke of a pen, the president will override the Wilderness Act, the National Forest Management Act, the forest planning process and the input of hundreds of rural forest communities all over America," Goodlatte said.